Last month, PSI’s lead social scientist Kelly Biedenweg and the Hood Canal Human Wellbeing indicator development team conducted three regional workshops to refine and rate indicators linking human well being to the health of Hood Canal’s natural resources.

The 32 participants included representatives from county, public health and economic development departments, local businesses, tribes, and the area naval base. The workshops looked at 100 potential indicators that had been narrowed from an initial list of 1400 social indicators that are currently used in the Puget Sound region.  Participants ranked, reworded, and added indicators, resulting in 15 that were highly rated across all three workshops and 42 that were highly rated by participants in least two workshops.

The final lists will be presented to the Hood Canal Coordinating Council for consideration in their Integrated Watershed Plan.  As a result, the indicators would be monitored regularly to report on the state of resident’s well being as related to natural resources.

Download a pdf with background information about the workshops.